Exploring Young Men’s Experience of Resistance to Masculine Norms

There are costs and benefits to conforming and resisting gender norms, and this ratio likely changes during the transition to adulthood. In this paper, we explore the development of young men’s masculine norm resistance from adolescence through emerging adulthood. Using thematic analysis on intervie...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging adulthood (Thousand Oaks, CA) CA), 2023-04, Vol.11 (2), p.365-379
Main Authors: Nielson, Matthew G., Martin, Carol Lynn, Rogers, Leoandra Onnie, Lindstrom Johnson, Sarah, Miller, Cindy Faith, Berendzen, Hannah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cisgender
Developmental approach
Gender
Gender roles
Life transitions
Masculinity
Navigation
Resistance
Young adults
Young men
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There are costs and benefits to conforming and resisting gender norms, and this ratio likely changes during the transition to adulthood. In this paper, we explore the development of young men’s masculine norm resistance from adolescence through emerging adulthood. Using thematic analysis on interviews with cisgender young adult men who reported feeling at least somewhat gender atypical (N = 30, Mage = 23, White = 74%), we found that: (a) men reported more direct and indirect gender norm resistance (GNR) as they aged, (b) as men felt less pressure to conform to gender norms, they reported more ease with expressing indirect GNR, and (c) that direct GNR generally paralleled developing an understanding of critical consciousness of broader social inequities. Our study answers the call to utilize a developmental approach to study men and masculinities, and in so doing, illuminates men’s dynamic navigation of masculine norms during the transition into adulthood.
ISSN:2167-6968
2167-6984
DOI:10.1177/21676968211072933